Winrock International (WI), an NGO based in the United States will today launch its operations in Rwanda that will see at least 83,000 Rwandan children reintegrated into schools.
 
The vice president of the organization, Carol Michaels O’Laughlin, jetted in yesterday to launch the multi-milliondollar project dubbed ‘Rwanda Education Alternatives for Children (REACH).’

According to O’Laughlin, the main beneficiaries to the four-year program will be children formerly exposed to exploitative labour and will be drawn from seven districts of Nyarugenge, Nyaruguru, Gicumbi, Nyamasheke, Nyagatare, Rubavu and Kayonza.

She commended several Rwandan initiatives geared at the promotion of education for all Rwandan children, saying that this is what captured their attention to be part of this development.

"Rwanda’s education sector, among other sectors, is growing faster and this is attributed to the government’s commitment,” O’Laughlin said

She praised the existing programs like the Nine-Year Basic Education Programme (9-YBE) saying that this is one of the efforts by government to ensure that all children attend school.

"We are here to raise awareness on exploitive child labour and the importance of education for all children and strengthen national institutions and policies on child labour,” she said.

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